The Islanders defeated the Flyers 6-4 to tighten the NHL Eastern Conference playoff race. Boston and Atlanta also lost on a night the Rangers did not play and picked up a game in hand.

The Flyers and Bruins are tied with the Montreal Canadiens at 82 points, two more than the ninth-place Thrashers and four in front of the 10th-place Rangers. All three tied teams have five games left; the Rangers have six.

The Rangers play in Tampa Bay tonight, and Montreal will visit Philadelphia.

“I would say it will be the biggest game of the year,” Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger said.

Islanders 6, Flyers 4

UNIONDALE — Playing mostly for pride with only a handful of games left, the Islanders scored three goals in the first period — two by Blake Comeau — and snapped a 15-game losing streak to Philadelphia.

“I didn’t know about that stat until the last time we played them,” Comeau said. “I don’t think anybody thinks about it. It’s a different game every time we play them.”

Comeau gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead 2:11 in and doubled the advantage 5:06 later, both off assists from rookie John Tavares. Frans Nielsen made it a three-goal edge 28 seconds after Comeau’s second on the eighth shot on goalie Brian Boucher.

The Islanders kept alive minuscule playoff possibilities, but are still eight points below the postseason cutoff with five games left. The Islanders, 0-12-3 in the previous 15 against the Flyers, took solace in finally beating their Atlantic Division rivals, who started the streak on March 1, 2008. It is the longest winning streak over a team in Flyers’ history and was the longest current run in the NHL.

“We didn’t have time to be overconfident the way the game started,” Flyers forward Danny Briere said. “We’re battling for our lives here and the Islanders are trying to play spoiler.

“We have to keep our heads high. We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves.”

Panthers 1, Bruins 0

BOSTON — The Bruins ended the night the same way they came in, locked in a three-way tie for the last three spots in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

“There’s only five games left, so there are 10 points out there,” Bruins forward Michael Ryder said after Boston lost to the Panthers and remained fighting with five teams for the last three spots. “It’s hard to find wins right now. You do feel that the team that puts it together first is going to be there.”

Former Devils goalie Scott Clemmensen stopped 36 shots for his fifth career shutout, and Keith Ballard scored for Florida, which ended a four-game losing streak.

“We could have jumped ahead of Philly and Montreal and gone four ahead of Atlanta — that’s the disappointing part,” Bruins forward Mark Recchi said. “For the most part, we controlled the game the whole game. That’s obviously not good enough. We have to find ways to win these games.”

Florida is tied for 12th in the 14-team East and has only a remote chance of making the playoffs.

“We don’t have a whole lot else to play for except upsetting some teams,” Ballard said. “It was a big game for them. We are going to run into a few more of those in the last couple weeks here.”

Capitals 2, Thrashers 1

WASHINGTON — Matt Bradley broke a third-period tie with his first goal in 2 1/2 months and the Capitals defeated the Thrashers, who missed a vital chance to gain ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

In a possible preview of a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series, the Capitals put aside of week of spotty play and moved closer to clinching the Presidents’ Trophy for best overall record. Nicklas Backstrom scored his 30th goal, Alex Ovechkin had an assist for his 102nd point, and Semyon Varlamov improved his bid to be the No. 1 goalie for the postseason by making 19 saves in his first win since March 4.

The win was No. 50 for the Capitals, tying the club record. Washington also has had Atlanta’s number this season, winning all five meetings by a combined score of 24-11.

The Thrashers started the day in ninth place in the East with five games to play, but loses by the Flyers and Bruins kept the race close.

“It just means they’ve given us another chance,” Atlanta coach John Anderson said. “We’ve got to find ways to win and get points. If everything stays the same, we’re out of the playoffs. We’ve got to make some hay here.”